EXCLUSIVE: The famous Rendlesham UFO did descend from the air and land in woods next to two US military bases 37 years ago - and this image that has surfaced proves it, it has been claimed.

UFO researcher Russ Callaghan believes he may have solved the case once and for all - and it has nothing to do with aliens, but a "UFO" capusule made by humans, he insists.

Mr Callaghan revealed his new theory at The Outer Limits Magazine's first ever UFO conference in Hull on Saturday to a stunned audience.

The Rendlesham legend, which happened around neighbouring bases RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters, near Mildenhall, Suffolk, has been dubbed Britain's Roswell, in a nod to the mystery of the UFO crash said to have taken place outside the town in New Mexico, USA, in July 1947.

The UK suspected alien event saw three US officers based at RAF Bentwaters claim a "triangular-shaped craft" landed in neighbouring woods in the early hours of December 26, 1980.

IG

The capsule which Russ Callaghan says resembles the sketches made by witnesses of a triangular UFO.

The men first noticed lights and then a UFO "on the floor", and could not account for a 40 minute period while searching in the woods when their communication systems went "off air".

The three - John Burroughs, Bud Steffens, and James Penniston - later told of feeling "static" as they observed the object's flashing lights and hieroglyphic-like markings.

Former Colonel Charles Halt, 77, the most senior witness, who was base deputy commander at the time, was not present during the first encounter, but was told the next morning and investigated that night after officers shouted: "It's back, the UFO's back."

He went to investigate with a team who found three 1.5inch "impact holes," damage to the canopies of trees and "higher radiation levels" in the "landing" area.

He said they then saw a mysterious object in a field between the woods and a farmhouse with "a red light moving."

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The ex-colonel said: ”It came towards us into the forest, moving, bobbing up and down in the trees. It was oval, about 100 to 150 yards away, with a dark centre and red around it.”

He claimed there were "sparks" coming from it and after a minute it "exploded and disappeared."

They then spotted objects in the sky, 3,000 to 4,000ft up.

Due to high interest in the case, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) investigated the case and concluded the lights from Orford Ness lighthouse had been responsible for what was seen over the two nights in terms of lights.

However, this has not satisfied most UFO investigators, failing to explain claims of the UFO being on the ground on the first night.

Mr Callaghan also does not believe the lighthouse was fully responsible for what happened, although he did cast doubt on recent claims from Mr Halt, who insists a real UFO was probably involved.

Mr Callaghan said: "No, it wasn't the lighthouse in my opinion."

Some investigators claim the timing of the lighthouse rotations were in sync with the light sightings observed by Mr Halt on the second night.

But Mr Callaghan was not convinced, saying the old-style analogue recorder used may have had inaccurate timings.

He said: "I don't think they were recording the lighthouse as everyone on the base was aware of where the lighthouse was."

However, Mr Callaghan had spoken with the lighthouse attendant working that night who told him he had met with Mr Halt.

The lighthouse worker said the eyewitness accepted the lights he described did probably originate from the lighthouse.

Mr Callaghan believes if aliens were involved there would have been more mystery observations on the night.

He said: "We are talking about nuclear bases. If something invaded from space they would know about it and there would be a big reaction.

"There was allegedly photos and film taken of the UFO at the time, but we have never seen any of it."

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The ARRS practiced on a mock up. This is the one that was at Bentwaters, it is in Florida now. What is interesting is it was on three legs.

Russ Callaghan

Now, he believes he may have obtained a photograph of what the men saw.

Mr Callaghan has discovered that the 67th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron was based at RAF Woodbridge at the time of the incident.

The ARRS was a separate unit to Mr Halt's, and would not have to brief them on what it was doing, he said.

This squadron was involved in the recovery of the command module capsules used during the Apollo moon missions and, during the 1980s, the recovery of film sent back to Earth in capsules from spy satellites.

Jon Austin

Rendlesham UFO: Russ Callaghan giving his theory at the conference.

They were recovered by a helicopter once they landed back down, and the ARRS used a mock-up capsule for practice sessions.

Mr Callaghan produced images of the capsule that was actually used at RAF Woodbridge on the night in question.

He said documentary film makers in the Rendlesham case had always left out details about the ARRS crew and the capsule.

He said: "There was no Apollo in 1980, but satellite photographs were taken on film that made entry back to Earth on a mini capsule.

"The ARRS practiced on a mock up. This is the one that was at Bentwaters, it is in Florida now. What is interesting is it was on three legs."

JonAustin*Getty

Colonel Charles Halt (left) believes aliens visited Rendlesham.

The three airmen who claimed to see the UFO on the first night said the craft was on three legs, and had sketched it as such."

Mr Callaghan said he discovered the ARRS did a practice run on Christmas Day night 1980, but that it had run into problems, and "the chopper pilot dropped the capsule in Rendlesham Forest”.

He said: "They came back the next night to recover it. This could explain what they men say, but nothing I am saying here is proof positive."

Mr Callaghan believes the recovery operation could explain the subsequent large military presence in the forest, and that the ARRS would not have had to brief Colonel Halt's squadron on what happened.

However, the theory does not explain why the MoD investigation report did not offer this up as an explanation for the sighting and just blamed it on the lighthouse.

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Questions also remain on why the US Veterans' Association agreed in 2015 to pay the medical bills of Mr Burroughs who claims exposure to high levels of radiation during the "UFO encounter" left him with heart problems.

UFO believers in the conference did not appear impressed by the theory.

In a question and answer session with Mr Callaghan, former policeman John Hanson, who recently published The Halt perspective, about the former colonel's involvement in Rendlesham, said: "It is strange colonel Halt would accept what he saw was the lighthouse, because what he was talking about was thousands of feet in the sky."